Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Consular Department: Case Files

FCO 180

1974-1997

Consular case files contain varied material depending on the case they cover. For example, where a British national is detained for a significant period of time, prison reports are included, often covering a number of years and where there has been a fatality and subsequent investigation, files contain reports of the subsequent investigation and occasionally medical or coroners reports. All files contain the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's correspondence with individuals or relatives, UK and overseas officials and press.

These files contain details of the FCO response to historical consular events and contain unique material not available from the records of the relevant geographical department files from the same period.

FCO 47 (Consular Department registered files) and geographical department registered files covering high profile consular cases which occur in their region

GK, K, KO

Public Record(s)

English

370 file(s)

Open unless otherwise stated

From 2021 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Topics

International

Prisons

The series is accruing

Records selected in line with Operational Selection Policy 48 ("Case Files"). Only case files which led to a change in policy or which are cause celebre cases will be recommended for permanent preservation. Therefore only a small percentage of files will be selected.

The Foreign Office was established in 1782 when the foreign affairs of the Southern and Northern departments were combined. In 1825 the Foreign Office established its first Consular Department. In 1967 the Foreign Office Consular Department merged with the Nationality and Consular Department of the Commonwealth Office in preparation for the 1968 merger which created the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The Consular department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's responsibilities include assisting British nationals in difficulty overseas and providing them with advice, the care of war graves and British cemeteries and repatriations.